5. Which version are you reading?

[Manuel]

There are several different editions of this book. Some are directly based on the manuscripts written by the saint. Others have been edited, by dividing them in paragraphs and chapters. Different appendixes have been added to the main text. Then there are translations from the original French. Which is yours?

[Bice]

I am reading the TAN edition. I have had the TAN paperback on my shelf for years so I decided to read the TAN Kindle version.

[Bice]

Yes I was surprised at all the different editions.

[Mariangel]

I am reading a free French edition from Project Gutenberg (there is also a free English edition).

My edition starts with a series of letters from bishops to the Mother Superior of the Carmel of Lisieux, thanking her for making the book available and expressing their enjoyment and profit from it.

Then comes the autobiography, and at the end there are 200 pages of prayers, letters and poems by St. Therese.

[Manuel]

I have four editions of the book, three in French, one in English. Two of them come from Project Gutenberg. Another comes from the Carmelites of Lisieux. The other one I bought in Amazon.

The English and French editions in Project Gutenberg are more or less the same. They have been edited, by reordering the material and dividing it into paragraphs and chapters.

The manuscripts provided by the Carmelites are the original texts written by Thérèse. The text is divided into three manuscripts (A, B and C), which were written successively, but with few paragraphs and no chapters. The Amazon edition I bought is just Manuscript A divided in paragraphs, but not in chapters.

I am reading the French Gutenberg edition, but at the end of every chapter I browse the other three editions, so as to compare. Apart from the indicated changes in layout, I've found deletions from the original manuscripts.

In addition, the Gutenberg editions have appendixes (letters and prayers) which the manuscripts don't provide.

[Frances]

My copy was published by P.J. Kenedy & Sons: "A revised translation of the definitive Carmelite edition of St. Therese's Autobiography and Letters, together with the story of her canonization, by the Rev. Thomas N. Taylor, witness before the tribunal of the beatification." Together with this, I am rereading Therese of Lisieux, by Monica Furlong, an excellent biography published in 1987 by Pantheon.

[Bice]

I will look up the Gutenberg ones. Thank you.

[Christine]

I am reading the translation by Monsignor Ronald Knox. It says in the foreword that it was from the original manuscript "just as it came from her pen".

[Tania]

I'm reading the Spanish version of Amazon...

[Madeleine]

I'm reading the Gutenberg book too.

[John]

Interesting, I am reading what may be an English Carmelite version, as it was published by ICS Publications, which is the Institute of Carmelite Studies. It is the third edition, "translated from the original manuscripts" by John Clarke, O.C.D. It has been broken up into chapters, mostly Manuscript A, which has been broken into 8 chapters, and paragraphs, and includes prefatory material, an epilogue and several appendices.

[John]

John wrote: "Interesting, I am reading what may be an English Carmelite version, as it was published by ICS Publications, which is the Institute of Carmelite Studies. It is the third edition, "translated from t..."

To aide people in referencing back to the original, this 3rd edition has indications of the beginning of each page, and of each 5th line on each page of the original manuscript. I will use that to indicate locations of quotes. This is apparently the standard reference method used by scholars of St. Therese, and is the only way I can think of when so many of us are reading different editions.

The system is based on the following, first a reference to the Manuscript, followed by a reference to the leaf (i.e. sheet of paper, in the original order), with an indication of front (r for recto) or back (v for verso) and then the line on that page where the quotation appears. So "my vocation is love" is located at Ms B, 3v, 25.

I don't mean to suggest that we each have to do this for our quotes, but only that if we want to point people towards where we found a memorable quote, this is a method that will probably work across the largest number of editions, if it is available in yours.

[Manuel]

John wrote: "Interesting, I am reading what may be an English Carmelite version, as it was published by ICS Publications, which is the Institute of Carmelite Studies. It is the third edition, "tran..."

John, in question 7 (Quotes) I gave an example of the same paragraph in two different editions. With your system of references, this paragraph would be in Ms A, 68v, 4-. Can you confirm which of the two versions I gave is nearer to that in your edition? I suspect it will be the longest one.

[John]

Manuel wrote: "John wrote: "Interesting, I am reading what may be an English Carmelite version, as it was published by ICS Publications, which is the Institute of Carmelite Studies. It is the third edition, "tran..."

Yes, your translation from the French is remarkably close to that of Fr. Clarke. Tres bien.

[Christine]

The edition I read didn't have letters or poems. I had read a book about her sister Leonie earlier this year and there were some letters in that book.